Sheet-separation device for sheet working machines

ABSTRACT

A sheet separation device for sheet working machines, which comprises a pile table having side rails and a sheet feeder movable in the direction of height relative to the pile table. Separating elements overlap the forward edges of the uppermost sheet freely movably guided in vertical direction and laterally adjustable. A setting lever is adapted for adjustment of the separating elements and mounted swingably only about a substantially vertical axis on a complementary of the side rails. An adjustment- and securing-device is disposed likewise swingably on the side rails and operates without steps, and a guide permits movements of the separating elements in vertical direction and is disposed on the forward end of the setting lever.

its States Pterit Rilinger Assignee:

Foreign Application Priority Data Apr. 1, 1969 Germany ..P 19 16 6235 US. Cl ..276/61, 271/36 Int. Cl ..B65h 3/46 Field ofSearch ..271/36,39,19,21,61

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 11/1966 Eichorn ..271/19 [15] 3,655,182 [4 1 Apr. 11,1972

Primary ExaminerJoseph Wegbreit Attorney-Ernest G. Montague [5 7] ABSTRACT A sheet separation device for sheet working machines, which comprises a pile table having side rails and a sheet feeder movable in the direction of height relative to the pile table. Separating elements overlap the forward edges of the uppermost sheet freely movably guided in vertical direction and laterally adjustable. A setting lever is adapted for adjustment of the separating elements and mounted swingably only about a substantially vertical axis on a complementary of the side rails. An adjustmentand securing-device is disposed likewise swingably on the side rails and operates without steps, and a guide permits movements of the separating elements in vertical direction and is disposed on the forward end of the setting lever,

5 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures Patented April 11, 1972 3,655,182

2 Sheets-Sheet; 1

Fig. I

' Patented A ril 11, 1972 3,655,182

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 SHEET-SEPARATION DEVICE FOR SHEET WOG MACHINES The present invention relates to a sheet separation device for sheet working machines, having a pile board receiving a sheet pile which may have laterally displaceable side rails and which have a feeding device movable relative to the pile board in the direction of its height. In the sheet separator device, separating elements are freely movably guided in vertical direction, which separating elements may be jointly adjustable with the side rails and cover up the front comers of the uppermost sheet, and the separating elements are downwardly pretensioned, as well as laterally adjustable.

Sheet separators in the most different embodiments are known for an appreciable time. In a known sheet separator, at

least one side rail of a pile board is laterally adjustable. Furthermore, a separating element is coordinated at least to one corner of the pile, which separating element is loaded by a weight in a vertical guide of the pile board is freely movable in vertical direction and has a head, the upwardly and outwardly rounded underside of which engages the corner of the pile, in order to support, on the one hand, the staple and, on the other hand, to permit an arching of the uppermost sheet of the pile during the operation of the sheet feeder, so that it separates from the remaining sheets of the pile, whereupon in case of further operation of the sheet feeder, the arched edges push forwardly and the sheet can be fed as an individual sheet by means of a sheet feeder of a sheet feeding device. In another known sheet separation device, the separating elements are designed in form of an angular metal sheet, which engages with its above horizontally bent upper part on the comers of the pile, while a downwardly projecting arm serves the support of the separating element and is secured to a slide which is guided freely movably in vertical guides. These guides are disposed in extensions of the laterally adjustable side rails of the pile board, so that with the setting of the side rails also the separating elements can be set laterally simultaneously. In

order to obtain the required engagement force of the separating element on the sheets, the separating elements are displaceably guided on a common rail, which extends crosswise to the side rails and which slides in their guides. This joint rail is retained with spring tension by a lever. In order to secure the joint adjustability of the separating elements with the side rails, and to have in addition the possibility to adjust laterally the separating elements also relative to the side rails, it is known, to equip the separating elements with a slot, which grips around loosely the side walls next to the pile. Furthermore, the separating elements are disposed on slides guided in vertical direction in guide plates, while the guide plates in turn are displaceably movable crosswise to the movement of direction of the slides on a joint carrying plate independently from the side walls. By this arrangement, it is to be brought about that the separating elements upon removal of the paper pile remain continuously parallel to their vertical front side. In order to maintain the movability of the separating elements independently from the pressure of the pile, in this known device, the slides carrying the separating elements are guided, protected from the pressure of the front comer of the pile in recoiling recesses of a forward engagement wall for the pile.

In a further known sheet separation device, one attempted to maintain the separating elements always in an equal overlapping with the sheets of the pile. For this purpose, the separating element is laterally movably mounted on a guide lever, which takes care of the vertical guidance of the separating element and which guiding lever is pre-tensioned by the effect of a spring or of a weight laterally in the direction towards the pile such, that a lateral angular arrangement of the separating element engages always under a pre-tension in an elastic engagement on the side of the pile.

It is, however, one object of the present invention to develop further a sheet separation device of the type set forth above such, that with a simple construction, the separating elements are adjustable not only together with the side rails, but can also be varied for the variation of the overlapping width in its position relative to the side rails.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a sheet separation device for sheet working machines, wherein a setting lever is provided for the adjustment of the separating element, which separating lever is swingably mounted alone about a vertical axis, in known manner, on the complementary side rail and is swingable by an adjustmentand securingdevice disposed likewise at the side rail and operating c0ntinuously without steps, and wherein the separating element is guided in a guide at the forward end of the setting lever rendering possible movements in vertical direction. The device in accordance with the present invention has a very simple structure, in which all parts cooperating with the separating elements are provided at a setting lever, which in turn is swingably mounted on the side rail. By this arrangement, it is possible to adjust the separating elements together with the side rail without any hindrance of the remaining part, while simultaneously by the lever swingably mounted on the side rail, the separating element can be adjusted continuously without steps in its lateral overlapping with the sheet of the pile relative to the side rail. Since the separating element is freely movably guided in the direction of its height, in the guide of the setting lever, the separating element can easily adjust itself to the prevailing pile-height. In some cases one such separating element will sufiice, in spite of the fact that as a rule, two substantially equally designed separating elements of the described type are provided.

Advantageously, the arrangement is made such, that each separating element or dog has a driver element, which projects into the path of a part movable relative to the pile board, for the insertion of a sheet pile in the direction of the height of the latter. During insertion of the pile the parts, namely the sheet feeder and the staple table cooperating for the separation must'be moved relative to each other in the direction of its height. This relative movement is exploited in accordance with the present invention, in order to put automatically the separating element into a position, in which it cannot prevent the insertion or feeding of a new sheet pile into the machine. This new measure can be realized in such machines, in which the pile board can follow upwardly stepwise or continuously in accordance with the reduction of the pile-height, whereby the sheet feeder elements remain substantially in the same height position or also in such machines, in which in a reverse manner, the pile table has an immovable position and the sheet feeder can be moved in the direction of height corresponding with the reduction of the pile. In the first case, it is provided, in accordance with the present invention, that a snapper-like driver pin is provided on the separating element, which driver pin projects in its operative position beyond the upper edge of a forward, rigidly disposed pile feeding wall. As soon as the pile is lowered for the insertion of a new pile, this upper edge maintains the separating elements in the upper position above the driver pin, so that a pile can easily be inserted. When the table is rolled back into its operative position, the driver element is slightly lifted by the pile, so that the driver pin is freed from the upper edge of the pile feeder wall. In similar manner, in the case in which the sheet feeder is movable in the direction of its height, the separating element can have a driver arm which can be joined upwardly by means of the sheet feeder, so that also in this case, the separating elements are joined automatically for the insertion of a sheet into a releasing position, whereby during lowering of the sheet feeder, the separating elements engage the staple surface sooner, than the sheet feeder, so that both are free from each other in the operative position.

With these and other objects in view, which will become apparent in the following detailed description, the present invention, which is disclosed by example only, will be clearly understlood in connection with the accompanying drawings, in whic FIG. 1 is an elevation, partly in section through the forward part of a sheet separation device, at an enlarged scale;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary top plan view of the device disclosed in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary top plan view of a second embodiment of a separation device;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation of still another embodiment of the device designed in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. is a side elevation, similar to that shown in FIG. 4, however, in a position, which corresponds with the position for insertion of a new sheet staple.

Referring now to the drawings, and in particular to FIGS. 1 and 2, the sheet separation device comprises a pile board 1, which is movable in vertical direction and which automatically adjusts itself to the reducing height of the sheet pile and which can be lowered for the insertion of a new pile into the lowermost position. 0n the pile board 1 are laterally adjustable two side rails, of which only one side rail 2, 3 is shown, which slides with its horizontal arm 3 on the board surface and engages with its vertical arm 2 laterally to the position safely on the staple.

In the vertical arm 2 of the side rail, a recess 4 is always provided through which the shaft for the sheet feeder can project. On the outside of the vertical arm 2 of the side rail is furthermore arranged a setting lever 18, which can be easily bent in the shown embodiment, in order to provide a swinging edge 20, which engages the outside of the arm 2 and serves as a swinging axis for the two armed levers 18. The one arm of the lever 18 has a recess, with which the lever is put over a pin 21, which serves as a counter-bearing for a pre-tensioned spring 22, which attempts to bring this arm into engagement with the outer face of the arm 2 of the side rail. The other arm has likewise a recess, through, which extends a screw bolt, on which a set screw 23 is arranged, with which the angular position of the lever 18 can be steplessly varied against the pretension of the spring 22. The swinging movements of the lever during the setting movement are indicated by the arrow 24. The swinging lever 24 has a corresponding vertical recess 28, through which the axle of the sheet feeder can project.

Thefree end of the lever 18 has a vertical guide slot 19, in which a slide i2 can move, in which slide 12 pins 14 of the slide project through the slot 19, and which is connected, on the one side, with a loading weight 13 and, on the other side, with a separating element 10, The loading Weight 13 is chosen such, that the slide stands continuously under such a pre-tension, that the separating elements engage with a predetermined load on the upper edge 9 of a sheet pile resting on the staple table I. The separating element is inclined and overlaps merely the sheet edge between the lateral limit edge 8 and the forward limit edge 7 of the pile. The position of the forward limit edge 7 is determined by an abutment face 6 of a forward immovably disposed limit metal sheet 5. By this arrangement, it is furthermore assured, that the vertical arm ll of the separating element in spite of contact with the pile can easily be moved in vertical direction, since the pile position in advancing direction is determined by the abutment 6.

One recognizes now, that if the side rail 2, 3 is laterally adjusted corresponding with the arrow 25, the entire device serving the setting of the separating element 10 is joined by the side rail, since all parts combined therewith are disposed on the side rail. On the other side, it becomes clear, that by the stepless adjustment by means of the setting knob 23, the lever 18 can be brought into any desired angular position, whereby the overlapping width of the separating element 10 can selectively be varied with the corner of the sheet pile with immovable side rail. The setting is extremely simple and hardly inclined to disturbances, so that the overlapping can be adjusted without difficulty, depending upon the paper quality and paper thickness, endlessly adjusted to the desired conditions. Independently from these setting positions, the separating element 10 can freely adjust itself to the variations of the pile height by guiding it safely always exactly parallel to the front edge of the pile in vertical direction. The required pretension in vertical direction can be set by the selection of the weight 13. Instead of a weight, as a matter of course, also a pre-tensioning spring, effective in vertical direction, can be provided between the forward end of the lever 18 and the slide 12.

In order to bring the separating element automatically outside of the feeding range upon insertion of the new pile, in the embodiment disclosed in FIGS. 1 and 2, in which the board 1 permits adjustment in the direction of height,-a snap-pin 15 is provided on the slide 12, which snap-pin 15 projects forwardly in about the direction of the sheet movement and is forwardly pre-tensioned by a spring 16 into its outermost position. This snap-pin 15 grips snaplike beyond the upper edge 17 of the immovably disposed, forward limiting wall 5, so that this wall 5 withholds the slide 12 by means of the snap-pin 15, if the pile table jointly with the side rail 2, 3 and the lever 18 is lowered downwardly for the insertion of a new sheet pile.

The arrangement is made thereby such, that in the operative position, in which the board is lifted so far with the pile, that the surface 9 of the pile comes into engagement with the sheet feeder (not shown), the separating element 10 is disposed on the upperside of the sheet and thereby maintained at such distance above the upper edge 17 of the immovable wall 5, that the snap-pin 15 is freed from this upper edge 17, as indicated in FIG. 1.

In the embodiment disclosed in FIG. 3, the conditions are substantially the same. In this case the setting lever 32 is equipped at its free end with an angular part 33, which extends about parallel to the forward edge of the pile and has in this angular arrangement a vertical guide slot for the slide. The separating element 34 is provided on the slide. The slide is loaded bya weight 33 to the desired extent in vertical direction. In this case also a driver pin or dog 15 could be provided in accordance with the embodiment disclosed in FIGS. 1 and 2, which driver pin 15 withholds the slide at the upper edge of the front wall 30, when the board 31 is lowered.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, it is assumed that the board 40 is immovably disposed, while sheet feeders indicated in this case by the point-dotted line 42 can be moved in vertical direction corresponding with the arrows 55 and 56 by means of a shaft 43. The arrangement and adjustment of the setting lever 44 for the separating element 48 on the side rail 41 are the same as in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 and are not shown therefore. The side rail 41 as well as the lever 44 have recesses through which the shaft 43 of the sheet feeder 42 can project. The lever 44 has at its forward end again a vertical guide slot 45, in which the slide 46 is freely movable in vertical direction, which again is subjected to a corresponding pre-tension. It is to be understood that the slide could be also provided at an angular part of the setting lever, as shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 4 shows the device in its operative position, in which the sheet feeder 42 is supported on the upper edge 53 of the sheet pile, the forward edge 54 of which engages an abutment (not shown). In this working position, the separating element 48 is supported on the sheet surface 53. By rotation of the sheet feeder 42, one sheet is moved forwardly, the edges of which are retained by the separating elements 48 on both sides of the staple, so that the sheet assumes an arching position and separates itself from the pile. Upon further rotation of the sheet feeder 42, the arched comers snap forwardly and slide over the separating element onto the guide 50, as indicated by the point-dotted line 52, until the individual sheet is finally gripped by the pulling-in device 51. When the pile is used up, a new pile must be inserted, for which purpose in the shown embodiment the sheet feeder 42 is lifted upwardly corresponding with the arrow 56. In order to bring simultaneously the separating elements out of the range of the staple to be introduced, a driver arm or dog 49 is provided on the slide, which driver arm 49 projects into the path of the shaft 43 of the sheet feeder 42 and which is joined for upwardly by this shaft upon lifting of the sheet feeder 42, as indicated in FIG. 5. During lowering of the sheet feeder 42, upon insertion of a new pile, the separating element 48 comes into engagement on the upper face 53 of the pile sooner than the sheet feeder 42, so that the driver 49 is freed from the sheet feeder shaft 43 and a relative disturbance of these parts during the operation is not to be expected.

It is to be understood, that in the preferred embodiment separating elements can be provided in the described manner at both corners of the sheet pile. Also the separating elements can have a joint operating member, for example, in form of a spindle or a rail or the like.

By this arrangement, the overlapping width of both separating elements can be varied simultaneously and uniformly.

While we have disclosed several embodiments of the present invention, it is to be understood that these embodiments are given by example only and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. A sheet feeding device for sheet working machines, comprising a board for receiving and holding a pile of sheets,

a rail at each side of said board,

a sheet separator movable in a vertical direction towards and away from said board,

means for assisting separation overlapping the front corners of the top sheet of said pile of sheets and being adjustable laterally with respect to said board,

a setting lever mounted on each of said rails and being tiltable on an axis vertical in relation to said board by means of an adjusting and locating device, and

said means for assisting separation being mounted in guides in said setting levers for free movement only in the vertical direction.

2. The sheet feeding device, as set forth in claim 1, which ina part movable in the vertical direction with respect to said board for the insertion of a pile of said sheets, and

each of said means for assisting separation comprises a dog projecting into the path of said part.

3. The sheet feeding device, as set forth in claim 2, including a frame and a front bearing wall secured to said frame,

said board being movable with respect to said front bearing wall, and

said dogs comprising pins projecting above the upper edge of said bearing wall in the operating position.

4. A sheet feeding device, as set forth in claim 2, including a frame to which said board is secured, and wherein said dogs comprise arms arranged to be entrained upwards by said sheet separator.

5. The sheet feeding device, as set forth in claim 1, wherein each of said setting levers comprises a sheet-metal portion including a bend which bears against said side rail fonning a tilting axis, and wherein a spring initially tensioning said lever acts on. one side of said bend, and

said adjusting and locating device, maintaining said lever in a specific tilted position against the initial tension of said spring, acts on the other side of said lever.

cludes 

1. A sheet feeding device for sheet working machines, comprising a board for receiving and holding a pile of sheets, a rail at each side of said board, a sheet separator movable in a vertical direction towards and away from said board, means for assisting separation overlapping the front corners of the top sheet of said pile of sheets and being adjustable laterally with respect to said board, a setting lever mounted on each of said rails and being tiltable on an axis vertical in relation to said board by means of an adjusting and locating device, and said means for assisting separation being mounted in guides in said sEtting levers for free movement only in the vertical direction.
 2. The sheet feeding device, as set forth in claim 1, which includes a part movable in the vertical direction with respect to said board for the insertion of a pile of said sheets, and each of said means for assisting separation comprises a dog projecting into the path of said part.
 3. The sheet feeding device, as set forth in claim 2, including a frame and a front bearing wall secured to said frame, said board being movable with respect to said front bearing wall, and said dogs comprising pins projecting above the upper edge of said bearing wall in the operating position.
 4. A sheet feeding device, as set forth in claim 2, including a frame to which said board is secured, and wherein said dogs comprise arms arranged to be entrained upwards by said sheet separator.
 5. The sheet feeding device, as set forth in claim 1, wherein each of said setting levers comprises a sheet-metal portion including a bend which bears against said side rail forming a tilting axis, and wherein a spring initially tensioning said lever acts on one side of said bend, and said adjusting and locating device, maintaining said lever in a specific tilted position against the initial tension of said spring, acts on the other side of said lever. 